the Sam Jackson College Experience

Though it is not Dreamhost’s fault, all my Dreamhost stuff will be getting some downtime tomorrow night starting at 1115 PST and hopefully not lasting for more than 5 hours. Apparently the power outage is caused because of… I’m not even sure why. The Dreamhost blog has it all here. This may also mean my e-mail will be down, which would be… bad. Very.

Anyhow, I think we will all try to cope? Sorry about this.

Warning: Sensitive readers may want to avert their gaze here for fear of the horrorible tale that I am about to relate. I’m only saying that to keep your eyes glued here, but never mind that! Onward into nightmare-land. This may also be the single ‘cruelest thing’ that a high school senior could do, too–I’m not sure, but it’s up there.

This is a true story which took place just last week.

Last week I was loitering outside my last period AP biology class discussing the answers to the problem set with my classmates as we skittishly huddled waiting to be shooed into the classroom. Someone who will remain nameless (innocent though he is not) chose at this time to mention very loudly to a specific person (that everyone might hear) that he had just gotten into a certain unnamed highly selective school. A fellow senior who had good luck with his admissions–sounds good! Except, actually, this particular senior was announcing his having received a likely letter which he then proceeded to flaunt–literally–to the assembled crowd. As if the first statement were not enough he said over and over again what we already knew from his letter-in-hand and shrieking voice. He was more or less ignored as best possible but to imagine his announcement as well received by the neurotic mass of seniors and soon-to-be-applying juniors would be hallucinatory at best.

I was horrified as I stood there observing this raw spectacle play out and was tremendously annoyed even though I had an admissions letter securely in hand–I could only imagine everone else’s thoughts. Except of course when they told me… and their reaction was not a happy one. Barely choked back rage, more or less.

As admissions letters will start rolling in soon I thought it would be worth taking a moment to reflect on the arduous process just hope that most people are more conscientious of those around them than this one person was. It’s simply disrespectful to those not as fortunate to receive likely letters or admissions letters for that matter–be it from that particular school or any other. If it were April 1st in the Post Office I don’t know what etiquette I would insist upon, but outside class was not the time or the place to celebrate that personal achievement.

Sorry about the rant-story, there. But I felt it was worth saying.

Remember how I wrote back in August that “Instant Messaging is Grammar Friendly” ? Well, it might be chummy with grammar but as I heard from Trend Hunter a few days ago, it’s creeping into essays and tainting middle school essays. Students Use Instant Messenger Lingo In Essays, Trend Hunter reports via CNN.

This “instant messaging-speak” or “IM-speak” emerged more than a decade ago. Used in e-mail and cell phone text messages, most teens are familiar with this tech talk and use it to flirt, plan dates and gossip.

But junior high and high school teachers nationwide say they see a troubling trend: The words have become so commonplace in children’s social lives that the techno spellings are finding their way into essays and other writing assignments.

“The IM-speak is so prevalent now,” said Austin, a language arts teacher at Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Orlando. “I’m always having to instruct my students against using it.”

I found this funny and thought some of you readers might as well. Hmmm, media fearmongering about the decay of language, probably not entirely unfounded! Thoughts?

: )

I’ve been playing a game of Diplomacy by e-mail with a group of Yale 2011 admits, and it’s been pretty fun–thanks to Matt Kremer for organizing it! We were drafted and organized initially through the Facebook 2011 group, which as I’ve said before, has been quite the valuable tool. Now, whether such games are the best to play with strangers is still a point of some contention, as I may never again trust my former ally in the game after he mercilessly backstabbed me in the black sea in Fall 1903. Robert Tunney, I won’t forget! But I might forgive. We’ll see.

This Diplomacy game ties in perfectly with a story I snipped from the Yale Daily News a few weeks ago about a campus Risk game between the residential colleges on Old Campus, which sounded intensely awesome. I love to hear about stories like ‘real-life large scale campus simulation of Risk!’ but I’m especially happy to hear about such outpourings of cool creativity when it’s at my future school!

Students hazard all in campus Risk game
YDN: Zachary Abrahamson, January 23, 2007

Durfee never saw it coming. Under cover of darkness Sunday night, Saybrugian and Piersonite forces stole out of L-Dub and mounted a frontal assault on Post Office territory, overwhelming the unsuspecting Morsel defenders. Across Old Campus, Davenport College turned on Ezra Stiles, and the combined forces of Berkeley and Branford seized South High Street from Saybrook and Pierson.

Is this a scenario from “Studies in Grand Strategy?” Not quite. The clash of collegiate forces Sunday night marked the beginning of Old Campus Tree Risk. In the uniquely Eli adaptation of the classic board game, every tree on Old Campus is a potential territory to conquer. The YaleStation-based game allows any Yale student to place and command armies in territories controlled by his or her residential college.

Quirky but extremely fun? Sounds like it. Hopefully the game will have evolved into something even cooler by the time I arrive, if it’s still around. I’ve always dreamt of such a large-scale game, though I suppose my idea was never quite as novel as I might have imagined. All the same… very neat.

I updated my ‘About’ page to be more accurate and less numbingly extensive. Including here in post-form because, well, I know by my crazy-intense statistics gathering that not that many people have actually gone to the ‘About‘ page despite its very prominent placement.

Why I have this blog: I started this blog describing it as “an organic derivation of my own college process” which is probably still accurate. I also said that “The reason I have done this painfully extensive research on various college admissions related topics, and the reason I analyze the marketing as thoroughly as I can, is because I am being marketed to and it pays to be savvy.” Plus, it’s a good way for me to hone my writing skills!

Well, my college application process is done, though there may be a little more paperwork here and there. I applied early action to and was accepted at Yale University and will be matriculating there into the class of 2011. I did not apply to any of the other 12 schools I had had on my list. However, there is still much to write about, and I think I will keep blogging once I get to New Haven in the fall. [I will probably be taking a break this spring trimester, however, as I will be interning in Washington, D.C. in John Kerry's office and won't have as much time to blog about college.]

About me: My name is Sam Jackson, and I’m currently a high school senior at Phillips Exeter Academy, a boarding school in Exeter, NH. I don’t go there because my parents don’t love me (they do) but rather because it’s a better educational experience than the one I could get at public school back home. At least, I’m hoping that’s the case; I’m pretty sure after 3 years. “Back Home” means “a bit outside Boston.” If you’d like to stalk me further, you’re going to have to do a little legwork yourself. For the most part I like my time here, though I wish it wasn’t in Exeter. The most important thing Exeter has taught me is: don’t go to a small, rural liberal arts college.

I like to write and read, and the humanities are generally my favorite subjects. Feel free to forward book suggestions; I’m always on the hunt for new material. I value knowledge because my experience has shown that there is inevitably a use for even the most esoteric sorts of information. I’m told that I have a good memory.

I try to keep busy at school with lots of extracurriculars but can’t ever seem to do enough to alleviate the frequent boredom that Exeter’s remoteness induces. I enjoy some humor in my life which is why I count authors like Terry Pratchett among my favorites; Al Franken is a personal hero of mine.

I try to learn important life lessons from my golden retriever, Cozmo. Autumn is my favorite season, because I love the New England foliage and the pleasant weather. Halloween is, of course, the best holiday of the year.

<– How about a picture? These were the envelopes for teacher recommendations for one teacher (the other was in the rainforest and wrote hers last year). Luckily for Ms. Schwartz, only one ever had to be sent!